School Notes

Centreville Elementary will hold its third annual Father Daughter Dance – for Centreville Elementary students – on Friday, May 15, from 6:30-9:30 p.m., at the school. Fathers, stepfathers, grandfathers, brothers, uncles or any other significant male figure are encouraged to take their special girl to this event. Cost is $10 per family and includes a souvenir photograph. Corsages will also be sold, and there’ll be lots of prizes, raffles and refreshments.

The Westfield High School Theatre Arts Department presents the musical "Into the Woods" on May 15 and 16 at 8 p.m. and May 16 and 17 at 2 p.m. at Westfield High School in Chantilly. Tickets are $10 and all seating is reserved. Visit www.westfieldtheatreboosters.com to order tickets online. Tickets are also available at the door. Assistant Director of Westfield Theatre Susan McCormack-Pike is the director of Into the Woods. Jessica Lardin is the musical director. Call 703-488-6439.

A free program from 6:30 – 7 p.m. on Tuesday, May 19 in the Chantilly High School Media Center (library) will feature strategies for increasing a student’s appeal to colleges.

The 23rd Annual Jazz and Pizzazz will take place Wednesday through Saturday, May 20-23 at 7 p.m. at Chantilly High School’s auditorium. Tickets are $10/person.

Local winners of the 20th Annual Writing Competition at the Manassas Campus of Northern Virginia Community College were recognized recently during a ceremony. The winners received cash prizes of $100 for first place, $75 for second place and $50 for third place in four categories: essay, one-act play, poetry and short fiction.

Daniel Randle of Chantilly earned first place in the essay category for "Pseudo-Intellectual Pseudo-Insomniac." Second place went to Nikhita Karki of Centreville for "Eighteen Years in Sixty Minutes" and Cathlene S. Baptista of Fairfax received third place for "Rob Sonic." Christina Grieco of Chantilly won first place in the poetry category for "Mundane Paperwork and Ulterior Motives."

The Westfield High Choral students will be performing the Faure Requiem with an orchestra on Wednesday, June 3 at 7:30 p.m. at Pender Church.

The Centreville High Wildcat Music Department presents the following concerts:

* Band /Jazz - May 14;

* Choir - June 4, June 5;

* Orchestra - May 21;

* Guitar - May 8.

St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic School is holding an Open House Session on the following dates:

* Tuesday, May 19 from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

St. Andrew the Apostle School is now accepting new student registrations to fill student vacancies for the 2009-2010 school year for Preschool thru Grade 8. A non-refundable application fee of $100 will be required at the time of registration. Submit all applications and fees to St. Andrew the Apostle School, 6720B Union Mill Road, Clifton, VA 20124, or drop off applications at the school office.

All registration forms and additional information about St. Andrew the Apostle School may be found on the school’s web site, www.standrew-clifton.org.

Young actors in the Northern Virginia area can learn about theatre arts at the Young Actors’ Workshop June 22-26, from 9 a.m. to noon. This workshop is open to elementary school students in rising grades 3-6. Tuition is $100 and classes will be held at Westfield High School in Chantilly. This year’s theme "Steppin’ Out on Broadway!" will allow participants to explore the world of musical theatre with an original children’s production. Westfield Theatre Boosters is now accepting registrations for Young Actors’ Workshop. For enrollment information about camp, visit www.westfieldtheatreboosters.com, e-mail Patti Dezelick at john@dezelick.com, or 703-488-6439.

For the first time in the history of Virginia High School Mock Trial, a Northern Virginia team will represent the state at the National Mock Trial competition in Atlanta. Ad Fontes Academy of Centreville won the State Mock Trial tournament, March 28-29, in Williamsburg.

The following newspaper and literary magazine students were winners in the Columbia Scholastic Press Association's Gold Circle Awards. These national awards are the highest available for individual pieces.

* For Andromeda: Marisa Reed: Second Place in "Typography: Use of a designed or art headline" for the spread titled, "The IQ Equation;" The entire staff: Certificate of Merit in "Typography: General use of typography through the magazine;" Alex Ott: Certificate of Merit for "Page design: Literary portfolio" (three spreads by the same designer)

For The Purple Tide: Jessica Albert: First Place for "Op-Ed design: Tabloid format black and white;" Shevy Chaganti and Joe Skopowski: Third Place for "Photo layout: Full-page black and white;" Colleen Cook and Ben Kekoler: Certificate of Merit for "Informational graphics: Black and white/black and white with one color."

The following Chantilly High School students competed in Harrisonburg at the VHSL State Speech Forensics Tournament:

* Wes Rutherford & Taylor Jarrell – 3rd Place in the state for "Duo Interpretation of Literature" (2-person one-act play)

* Kenny Lau – 2nd Place in the state for "Original Oratory" (delivering a personally written speech)

* "Avi" Jasjot Jaggi – 4th Place in the state for "Original Oratory" (delivering a personally written speech)

Stephanie Lizza, of Clifton, was named to the dean’s list at Virginia Tech.

Lees Corner Elementary School is gathering information on children who will be five years old by Sept. 30, 2009 and live within the school’s boundaries. Boundary information can be accessed at www.fcps.edu/boundary/. If you have a child who meets these requirements please call Mrs. Nolan at 703-227-3500. For more information about starting school in FCPS visit http://www.fcps.edu/start.htm

Greenbriar West Elementary School is now accepting information for next year’s Kindergarten classes. Those with a child who will turn five years of age by Sept. 30 should call the school office with the child’s information. Call 703-633-6700 for more information.

Clifton Children's Academy is offering a new Accelerated Junior Kindergarten program. It is available to those children who may have just missed the cut-off date for public kindergarten, those children who may not have been quite ready to begin kindergarten this fall, or those children who are excelling on the academic front and are looking for even greater challenges. The program consists of language arts, early math, social studies and science, as well as foreign language and visual arts. The school is located on Compton Road in Centreville. Call the school at 703-968-8455 or visit its Web site at www.childrensacademy.com.

Pleasant Valley Preschool is a non-profit cooperative preschool that holds its classes in the Greenbriar Community Center. It offers programs for 3-5 year olds and is enrolling for the 2009-10 school year. Call the school at 703-378-6911 or visit the Web site at www.pleasantvalleypreschool.com for more information. The Community Center is located at 4615 Stringfellow Rd. in Fairfax.

Kindergarten registration is open at Union Mill Elementary School. Packets are available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at the main office, 13611 Springstone Drive. 703-322-8504.

The Clifton Presbyterian Church Preschool is now enrolling for the 2009-2010 school year. The preschool offers classes for 3, 4, and 5 year olds. Questions, Gretchen Reamy at 703-830-3175 or Gretchen-cliftonpc@vacoxamil.com